Evolution Redux
by Magnetrix
Summary: AU. We go back to the beginning in this retelling of X-Men Evolution. All new characters, all new struggles. Follow this next generation of mutants as they learn to cope with their newfound abilities, forge new friendships, and try to fit in with their peers at Bayville High.


Evolution Redux

Summary: AU. We go back to the beginning in this retelling of X-Men Evolution. All new characters, all new struggles. Follow this next generation of mutants as they learn to cope with their newfound abilities, forge new friendships, and try to fit in with their peers at Bayville High.

Disclaimer: Since there are no original characters in this story, by default all characters belong to Marvel. The Evolution cartoon belongs to Kids WB and whoever else had a hand in creating it, as do some of their characters like Duncan Matthews. I own nothing except for the laptop upon which this story is written.

A/N: Before I begin, a few things you need to know. This story is set in an AU of sorts, and while it will use some of the storylines from the cartoon, it won't follow the Evolution timeline. You will also be seeing more comic characters making appearances, so those of you familiar with the comics may recognize them. For those who don't know the comics and want to look up more information on these characters, check out uncannyxmen .net (remove the space), Marvel Wiki, or even doing a basic Google search will get you what you need.

Key:

' … ' thoughts

:italic: telepathic communication

( … ) extra information

Written words are in bold

[hr]

Chapter 1

Strategy X Part I

[hr]

Undisclosed location, Canada – 10 years ago

The sky was cloudy and dark as night began to settle in over the vast Canadian wilderness. This particular area was rather desolate; the only forms of life that seemed prevalent were the tall deciduous trees and various plants and flowers. Normally, this serene, uninhabited land was quiet, the only noises being crickets, the wind rustling through the trees and the odd forest creature scurrying about. But tonight was different.

The roar of an advanced jet engine echoed through the night sky and caused the leaves on the trees to rustle in the gust that followed. The sound was loud enough that it had startled many of the forest creatures, sending them running back to their dens, nests, caves, or wherever else they dwelled. And had a human being been standing there, they would have been startled at what they saw.

This was no ordinary jet. It was the SR-77 Blackbird, a plane that wasn't even supposed to exist. If anyone happened to see it, they would have thought it to be something straight out of science fiction. But it was there, and it was very real. And as it streaked through the sky at a speed exceeding that of sound, the passengers of the plane sat in wait as they drew closer to their destination.

Unlike the plane, the passengers looked very ordinary. They appeared to be in their late teens to young adults and from different ethnic backgrounds. Anyone else would wonder what a bunch of young people were doing on a supposedly non-existent plane flying around an unexplored part of Canada. Their true reason for being there was much more complicated than anyone could imagine.

The small group of young people were not as ordinary as they appeared. They were mutants, human beings born with extraordinary abilities only thought to exist in the pages of a comic book or on television. And they were on a mission. They were the mutant peacekeeping force known as the X-Men.

"Okay Professor Xavier, we're nearing our target coordinates. I'm taking her down," said John Proudstar, codenamed Thunderbird. He was an extremely tall young man of Native-American heritage, standing well over six feet. Not only was he tall, he was very muscular as well. He looked as though he worked out quite a bit, and although he did try to keep in shape as much as possible, his muscle mass was also a side effect of his mutant ability. John was superhumanly strong, and although he didn't really know his true limits, he was easily able to lift a car into the air.

"Excellent, you're right on target. If I'm correct, you should be seeing a building any moment now," responded Professor Charles Xavier over the radio. He was monitoring the mission over a distance through the use of his psychic-amplifying machine known as Cerebro.

"Explain it to me again, Chuck, 'cause I don't understand why the hell we're even bothering with this. If it's just a reconnaissance mission, then I don't see the point in havin' the whole team here." said the man only known as Logan, codenamed Wolverine. Logan was of short stature, standing only five feet and six inches tall. But his muscle mass more than made up for his height. He had a head full of black hair that stuck out in every direction, giving him the appearance of a ferocious animal, and ice blue eyes. He was much older than the others, although nobody really knew his true age. He possessed a healing factor that allowed him to quickly heal from injuries that would kill or maim a normal human. On top of that, he also possessed animal-keen senses, enhanced strength and stamina, and six deadly claws housed in each of his hands. As a result of medical experimentation, his bones were coated with the nearly unbreakable metal alloy known as adamantium.

"This team of regulars is merely a preventative measure should this mission turn out to be more than it seems," answered Xavier, "Given the information I received about this particular destination, I feel it would be best to play it safe, given our luck in the past."

"Yeah, that's another thing," added Logan. "You didn't exactly give us a whole lot of detail. And if yer gonna send the whole team into a situation that may or may not be dangerous, shouldn't we know all the facts?"

A brief silence fell over the radio as Professor Xavier contemplated his response.

"You're absolutely right, Logan," Xavier finally said, breaking the silence. "The information that was sent to me was disturbing, to say the least. But I didn't want to spark any confusion or speculation until I was sure of it. So I asked one of my sources to do further research, and the data is valid."

"What was this building used for anyway?" asked Ororo Munroe, codenamed Storm. The ebony-skinned woman was tall and shapely, with hair the colour of freshly fallen snow and striking blue eyes. She appeared to be the youngest of the group, about seventeen or so. She possessed the ability to manipulate weather patterns. For example, she could create lightning, manipulate the winds to fly, or cause it to rain or snow.

"According to my information, it used to be a psychiatric hospital back in the 1950s," replied Xavier as the plane began to descend. "It closed down in 1963; however nobody really knows the reason why."

"An abandoned mental hospital? Can this get any more cliche?" asked a teenaged boy with longish dark brown hair. His name was Kevin Sydney, AKA Morph, and he had the ability to change into any form he pleased.

"Would it be any less cliché if it was, say, an abandoned hotel?" asked Henry McCoy AKA Beast. Henry, or Hank as he preferred, was around the same height as Ororo. He had a broad, muscular build and his hands seemed to be larger than those of a normal human. Hank was blessed with enhanced strength, stamina, dexterity and agility, among other things.

"No," replied Morph. "But at least I'd get to re-enact my favourite scene from The Shining. I can get Emma to play those creepy little girls."

At the sound of her name, Emma Frost turned away from the window, where she had been watching the plane descend. She was a tall blond young woman with a shapely figure and glacier blue eyes. She was a telepath, able to read minds as well as communicate through thought, project her own thoughts into someone else's mind, and a variety of other psychic abilities.

"And how do you expect me to pull that off?" she asked.

Morph grinned. "Use that cool illusion thingy," he replied.

"That was a onetime thing," Emma said. "And I was fairly intoxicated when it happened."

"Wait, what?" Morph said, his eyes widening in surprise. "When did you get drunk and why wasn't I invited to the party?"

"That's what I'd like to know." said Wolverine, turning his stern gaze on Emma, who cleared her throat in embarrassment.

"It was a long time ago," she said.

Wolverine looked like he was about to scold Emma, but John spoke up.

"I see it, Professor. We're almost there."

The rumble of the engines caused the inside of the aircraft to shake and vibrate as it passed through a large cloud that hovered over the target area and descended toward the ground below. Thunderbird flipped several switches and everyone held on to something as the plane headed toward a clearing near the target.

Everybody turned to look out the windows as their target came into view. It was a rather tall, multi-leveled building that fed into a large hill behind it as it sat over a cliff that led down toward a river. As they drew closer, they could see the structure was completely unlit, hinting that it hadn't been used in decades. The structure was completely isolated, the only way to and from the building was a small dirt road that hadn't been used in quite some time.

"Okay Professor, we're at the hospital," said Thunderbird over the radio as he maneuvered to land the plane a few miles down the road.

"Good," said Xavier. "I will be monitoring all of you via Cerebro. I can also control the Blackbird from here so if anything does go wrong, I will be able to get you out of there as quick as possible."

The X-Men then proceeded to file out of the jet and made their way toward the abandoned hospital. It was a strange sight, but that only further prompted the need to investigate. Although from the looks of it, nothing seemed overly threatening. It looked like any other old abandoned building. But as the old saying goes, appearances can be deceiving, and they certainly rang true in the world of the X-Men.

"So who's going to ring the bell?" joked Morph as the group took in the close up appearance of the hospital.

"I don't think anybody's home," said Beast.

"I'm not sensing anything," said Emma, scanning the area with her mind.

"Nor do I, Emma," said Xavier over the earpieces each X-Man wore. "I think it might be safe to go in."

"That's what I like to hear," said Wolverine. And with that he headed off toward the entrance, the others following close behind.

The building cast an ominous shadow, making some of the young mutants feel a bit uneasy. As they neared the building, the level of disrepair it was in became clearer. The paint was old and chipping, the concrete around the entrance was dirty and it looked like a piece had been broken off, and the windows were boarded up. Vines grew up the side of the building and where there may have been a lawn was now choked with weeds.

With a loud SNIKT, Wolverine popped the claws on one hand and sliced through the rusted metal door as though it were something soft like butter.

"Nothing like the direct approach," said Emma as she watched Wolverine step through the hole he made. The others soon followed.

The layout of the building seemed like that of a regular hospital. The halls branched off into different sectors, and each sector had its specific function and purpose. At the moment, they were all standing in what used to be the lobby. However, it was hard to discern much else from this due to the fact there was no light. Storm tried to flip a nearby switch, but no lights came on.

"I think it's safe to say this place is abandoned," said Storm.

"Not to mention a health hazard," added Beast as he looked at the blackened, moldy walls, the thick layer of dirt and dust that coated everything and quite a few brown stains on the ceiling and floor tiles that he hoped were just water.

Wolverine sniffed the air, trying to get a scent that would lead them to something. But at the moment, all he could smell was rotting drywall, dust, mildew and mold, and some sort of chemicals, most likely cleaning supplies left over from when the building closed.

"This place is huge," commented Thunderbird as they passed through the main hallway and arrived at a dividing intersection. "We're not going to cover the whole building unless we split up."

"Whoa, not a good idea," said Morph. "I've seen plenty of horror movies, and I can tell you that splitting up usually ends very badly."

"If you don't stop with the jokes and start takin' this seriously, it'll turn into a slasher flick," grunted Wolverine in annoyance.

Morph quickly fell silent, deciding it would be best not to further anger the volatile mutant.

"Okay, this is how it's gonna go," said Wolverine. "Storm, you and Thunderbird take the hall up ahead. Emma and Beast will take the left. Morph, you're with me. We'll take this hall."

Morph gulped. Being stuck in a creepy old building was one thing. Being stuck in a creepy old building with Wolverine was a whole different level of scary.

[hr]

Abandoned hospital – corridors

As each group continued their exploration, the sheer size of the building soon became apparent. The corridors extended into the hills and several stories below. There were a number of doors that led to patient rooms, made clear by the presence of hospital beds with restraints hanging from the rails. There were other doors that led into what appeared to be offices, and further into the building were rooms with unknown purposes.

"What is that?" asked Storm as she and Thunderbird entered a large room. It appeared to be some sort of operating theatre with a surgical table, trays of sharp instruments and a strange-looking box-like machine with wires coming off of it.

"I don't even wanna think about it," said Thunderbird. "If I had to guess, this was some kind of treatment room or something."

"Looks more like an operating room," said Storm. "What kind of treatments took place here?"

"The unethical kind," the Native-American mutant answered simply.

The two mutants took a moment to explore the room, and when they couldn't find anything, they continued down the hall. Storm began to feel uneasy as they entered another passageway. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she felt like she was being watched.

But that was impossible. Neither Emma nor the Professor sensed anything. And if someone was here, Wolverine would have definitely picked up on their scent. She figured that her mind was playing tricks on her. After all, she was in an abandoned hospital, which seemed to be the subject of many horror films. However, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was not quite right.

[hr]

"Hey, did they have computers back in the fifties? Because this room is full of them." Morph said.

He and Wolverine had just entered a very large room at the end of a hallway.

"Nope," Wolverine said as he proceeded to look at the dusty machines. He didn't claim to be an expert in computers, but those machines did not look very old.

"Then how did they get in here?" Morph asked, suddenly feeling just a bit more anxious than usual.

"That's what I'd like to know."

Logan continued to explore the room while Kevin stayed close behind him. Suddenly, the feral mutant stopped and let out a low growl.

"You've got to be kidding me."

"What is it?" Morph stepped closer to his mentor and managed to get a good look at what he was staring at. "Isn't this supposed to be a hospital? It looks more like Frankenstein's lab."

Lining the back wall of the room were several large transparent plastic tubes with hoses leading from the backs of them to somewhere underneath the floor. Surgical instruments sat on metal wracks that hung from the walls and there was another odd-looking machine that stood near a small door that led to who knew where.

Logan sniffed the air again. And again, he couldn't seem to get a scent. Normally, that wouldn't phase him. But with all this strange equipment around him, he was beginning to feel like something was not right here. And he was proven right when he heard a strange sound. At first, it sounded like a clock ticking. But it only took him a few seconds to realize what it really was.

"Get out of here!" he shouted at Morph.

The young man was confused. "Huh? What does that…"

"This place is gonna blow!" Logan shouted. "Get the hell out of here now!"

Suddenly, A series of powerful explosions rocked the whole building, causing it to shake violently. Throughout the halls and rooms, hidden incendiaries went off and quickly spread fire all over the old, dusty hospital. The structural supports were blown to pieces by strong blasts of explosives that only compounded the shaking, causing several major areas of the ceiling to collapse.

Somewhere in the basement of the old hospital, Storm and Thunderbird were both knocked off their feet by the sudden explosion and struggled to stand as parts of the ceiling collapsed in on them.

"Come on! We have to find the others and get out of here!" said John as he helped Ororo to her feet.

"Right! Let's go before this room collapses!" said Ororo as they both regained their composure and prepared to make a break for the exit.

But before they could take two more steps, another part of the ceiling suddenly collapsed. Ororo barely managed to get out of the way. Had she not moved, she would have been knocked unconscious. It was at that moment they realized if they were going to make it out of here alive, they had to go now. Ororo used her mutant abilities to summon the winds, and the two of them were lifted clear of the burning building. As they ascended into the night sky, they could still hear explosions going off. Ororo summoned a giant rainstorm to put out the fires.

They landed in a clearing far from the old hospital where, to their relief, Hank and Emma were waiting for them. For a few seconds, the mutants couldn't even speak. Everything had happened so fast none of them had a chance to process what was going on. And then, as the shock wore off, the seriousness of the situation began to sink in.

"Where are Wolverine and Morph?" asked Ororo.

"They got out, didn't they?" asked Hank.

"They're not here," said John. "Emma, can you locate them?"

Emma nodded, and her eyes glazed over as she used her telepathy to scan the area. The other young mutants watched her, waiting for an answer.

"Did you find them?" asked Ororo.

There was no answer from the blond telepath. Ororo was about to ask her again when she suddenly collapsed. The African mutant ran over to catch her as she fell.

"Emma? What happened?" she asked.

Emma's expression was vacant, and for a moment she said nothing. But when she finally spoke, her voice sounded flat.

"He's…gone."

Ororo's eyes widened. "Who's gone?" she asked, beginning to get a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

"Morph," Emma answered. "He's…"

And then emotion finally returned to her face, and tears started streaming down her cheeks. The blond leaned heavily against Ororo, her body wracked with sobs.

"He's dead!" she sobbed. "I…I felt him die! I'm so sorry!"

[hr]

Bayville High School – Bayville, New York – present day

"Let's go, Panthers, let's go! Let's go, Panthers, let's go!"

The cheerleaders and the audience were cheering on the Bayville High Panthers football team. It was fourth quarter and they were leading the opponent by three points.

"Ready! Set!" the quarterback called out. "Blue 21! Blue 21! Hut!" Once the quarterback got the ball, he pretended to throw it but blitzed to the left. After dodging four players, he was tackled by the other team's lineman.

"And that was a 15-yard run made by all-star quarterback, Duncan Matthews!" the sports commentator announced over the speaker.

"Woo hoo!" a pretty, slim red-haired girl from the audience cheered. "Gooooo Duncan!"

Duncan Matthews looked up at his enthusiastic fan as she stood up and waved. He smiled and waved back.

Alison Blaire looked at her hyperactive friend sitting next to her and sighed. "Do you have to be so loud?"

"I'm the quarterback's girlfriend," Madelyne Grey answered. "It's my duty to be loud."

"Well, do you think you could tone it down a bit? My head is dangerously close to exploding."

Maddie just smirked at her friend. "You're just jealous." she said.

"Jealous of what, exactly?" Alison scoffed.

"You're jealous of the fact I'm in a committed relationship and yours is falling apart."

"Sean and I broke up a long time ago. I'm over it."

"You might be over Sean, but you miss being in a relationship with someone." Maddie pointed out.

Alison stared at Maddie for a few minutes before getting up from her seat. "I'm going to take more pictures for the yearbook," she said, grabbing her camera. "See you after the game?"

"Maybe. It depends on whether or not Duncan wants to go out or something."

[hr]

The game still continued at its intense pace as Alison made her way to the football field. She snapped some pictures of the cheerleaders and of a few members of the school band. All of a sudden, one of the Panthers football players got tackled and he landed were the cheerleaders were, missing Alison by a couple of inches.

"That was an excellent tackle made by defensive lineman, Lucas Bishop!" the announcer boomed. "The Panthers now have the ball!"

Alison snapped a photo of the lineman still on the ground. Lucas Bishop just smiled.

"Is this for the yearbook, Ali?" he asked.

"No, Bishop," Ali replied, a small smile descending onto her incredibly beautiful face. "This is for my personal collection."

[hr]

While everyone was enjoying the game, a petite, African-American girl with long, dark hair, dressed in a long trench coat over a black tank top and black Capri pants hid behind the bleachers, pickpocketing unsuspecting strangers. The girl was known to be a runaway and a delinquent, but what nobody knew was why she always wore that trench coat. That piece of clothing concealed a pair of veined, insect-like wings that extended out from her shoulders. Her own family weren't even aware she was a mutant. Then again, they were either behind bars or too high to really notice anything going on around them, so it really wasn't that hard to keep her mutation a secret. In fact, she spent most of her time hiding away, unnoticed by anyone.

Unfortunately, that was about to change. It was at that moment that two cheerleaders noticed her counting money into a sack she carried with her, and upon seeing who it was, they rushed to one of the senior cheerleaders.

"Hey, Stacey," sneered a tall, skinny blond cheerleader. "Guess who decided to pillage the game tonight/?"

Stacey Kramer turned her gaze to the bleachers and saw what her friends were talking about. A devious smile crossed her face.

"Go figure, Angel Salvadore is at it again. Well ladies, I think it's time we taught her a lesson." The brunette turned to the cheerleading coach and plastered on her sweetest smile. "Hey, Coach Davis, is it okay if Courtney, Carly and I take a bathroom break?"

Coach Davis looked at her watch before answering. "All right. Be back in five minutes, girls."

The girls smiled at each other before heading toward the bleachers.

"Going somewhere, Stacey?"

The three girls turned to find their team captain, Jean Grey, eyeing them suspiciously. Jean happened to be the identical twin sister of Maddie – the same red hair, same emerald green eyes, same slim build.

"Hey, Jeannie," Stacey chirped. "We were just going to the bathroom to freshen up."

"The girls' locker room is on the other side of the stadium." Jean pointed out. "Why are you going toward the bleachers?"

"That's none of your business," Carly Alvarez sneered. "Just because you happen to be the captain, it doesn't give you the right to police our every move."

Ignoring Carly's comment, Jean turned back to Stacey. "Don't do anything stupid that's going to have repercussions later."

Stacey rolled her eyes. "Why would we do anything stupid? I mean, we wouldn't want to make you look bad or anything." Jean could clearly hear the venom in Stacey's voice on that last part of her sentence. It was no secret she hated the fact Jean had been made captain instead of her.

"I'm being serious, Stacey. Don't expect me to bail your ass out of trouble because I'm the captain. It's about time you learned to take responsibility for your own actions."

"Whatever." Stacey sneered, and with that, they left.

Alison walked up beside Jean after overhearing the conversation. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"I don't know," Jean replied. "That's what we're gonna find out."

[hr]

Angel Salvadore was a thief. It wasn't something she was striving to be, but she had no choice. When you lived on the streets, you didn't have many options. She needed to eat, and she needed money for that, and the only ways she could make money were either pickpocketing or selling her body on the streets, and there was absolutely no way in hell she was going to sink to that level. She saw what happened to the girls who chose the second option. They were often beaten up by their pimps if they didn't make enough money, or beaten, raped or even sometimes murdered by their johns because those sick, disgusting men saw them as nothing more than playthings instead of human beings.

Besides, she wouldn't be able to conceal her wings if she was a prostitute, and who knows what they'd do to her if they found out what she was. So she went for the first option, which in her opinion was much safer.

Angel pulled another wallet from the pocket of another unsuspecting spectator, took out the money and returned the wallet to the person's pocket. She counted the money she stole and smiled.

"$375." she mused. "Shit, I made a killing tonight."

She added the money to her sack, which brought her total up to $723.26. That was going to last her a few days, maybe more.

"Well, looks like Salvadore couldn't stay in her shit hole where she belongs."

Angel couldn't help but smirk as she turned around to see Stacey Kramer, Courtney Ross, and Carly Alvarez ganging up on her. She should have known the bitches of Bayville would come after her.

"Wow, the bitches of Bayville are actually talking to me. Guess I should be honoured."

"That's not very nice," said Stacey. "You should be grateful we're giving you the time of day. We usually don't want anything to do with your kind."

"Yeah, I know," Angel said. "You only associate with the upper class. So why are you even bothering with me?"

"That's a lot of money you have in that bag," said Courtney. "Where'd you get it? I know your crack whore mother blows through all hers, and you don't have a job, so don't even bother lying to us about that."

Angel merely shrugged. "I made it panhandling."

"Sure you did," Carly said. "You stole it, didn't you?"

"And what if I did? What you bitches gonna do about it?"

Stacey just smiled. "Ladies, let's teach Miss Salvadore a lesson in honesty." She threw the first punch but Angel ducked out of the way and tripped Stacey with a sideswiping kick. Carly jumped in and punched Angel in the stomach while Courtney pinned her to the ground. Once they'd subdued her, Stacey approached Angel with an evil smirk on her face.

"I am so going to enjoy this. It's about time trash like you got put in their place."

But before Stacey could strike Angel, she was suddenly yanked backward by an invisible force. Confused at what had just happened, the girls glanced behind them and saw Jean Grey and Alison Blaire glaring at them.

"Leave her alone, Stacey." Jean demanded.

"This has nothing to do with you, Grey!" Stacey snapped. "Stay out of it!"

"Yeah," Angel agreed. "I can take care of myself. I don't need anyone to save me."

"Yeah, well, it sure didn't look like it," Alison said.

Angel suddenly punched Carly hard in the face, breaking her nose. Then she struck Courtney in the ribs, knocking the wind out of her and causing her to release Angel. "Like I said, I can take care of myself." she said.

Now Stacey was furious. "Should have kept your nose out of it, skank!" She ran toward Jean in a fit of rage.

Jean started to block every attempt Stacey made to fight her. Whenever Stacey tried to punch, hit, and scratch or kick her, Jean would counteract her attacks. It was times like these Jean was grateful for all those training sessions with Mr. Logan.

Meanwhile, Alison and Angel had their hands full with the other two cheerleaders. Alison was taking on Carly and Angel was fighting Courtney. The girls were so focused on each other that they didn't notice Alison's sudden distress. Their fight had drawn attention from the crowd, and now people were screaming and cheering wildly. "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!"

Alison began to feel a familiar energy building up inside her and the louder the crowd got; the closer it was to being released.

_:Uh, Jean?: _she sent to her friend telepathically.

_:What's wrong, Ali?:_ Jean sent back, hearing the distress in Alison's message.

_:Something's … wrong…:_ But Alison never got to finish her thought, as suddenly the energy that had been building up inside her was released, resulting in a bright light that temporarily blinded everyone around them.

Jean ran up beside her friend. "Oh no. Ali, try to make it stop, okay?"

"I … can't!" Alison cried throwing up her arms, and when she did that, what appeared to be a laser beam streaked toward one of the propane tanks near the stadium gates.

"Oh my god!" Jean cried. "Everyone get down!"

"Huh?" Angel looked confused. "What's going—"

"Get down!" Jean used her telekinesis to shove Angel and the others to the ground just as the tank exploded.

[hr]

The explosion rocked the stadium. No one knew the true cause of the explosion, no one cared about that. All they knew was that they needed to get out of there and fast. The principal could be heard shouting at everyone to evacuate the stadium immediately. However, Madelyne Grey refused to leave without her friends. _:Jean! Jean, what happened?:_ Maddie sent frantically. _:Please tell me everyone's all right – you're all right.:_

A few seconds ticked by, and Maddie started to panic. Had something happened to Jean?

_:We're okay, Maddie.:_ Jean responded. _:Just get out of there right now.:_

_:Okay, I'm leaving. Where are you?:_

"Maddie!" Maddie turned around, only to see Duncan Matthews running toward her. He was tall, well-built, with short, blond hair and intense blue eyes. Maddie practically fell into his arms, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I gotcha, babe," Duncan said, leading Madelyne to safety.

"I … I have to find my friends," Maddie said. "They—"

"They're fine," said Duncan. "I just saw your sister running for the parking lot. Now come on, we have to get out of here." Duncan wrapped an arm around Maddie as he led her out of the stadium following a crowd of panicked students, teachers and parents.

"Hey Maddie, you wanna come back to my house after this?" Duncan asked. "I was gonna take you out for dinner after this, but I'm sure you'll wanna go somewhere quiet after what just happened."

Maddie thought about it for a moment. "I'd love to, but I can't," she replied. "They'll want everyone back at the Institute."

"Why do you have to go back? Can't you just call them and tell them you're okay?"

"They're kind of overprotective of us," Maddie said. "They just want to make sure we're okay."

Technically that wasn't a lie. She did find the instructors at the Xavier Institute extremely overprotective at times, and she knew they'd want to know how that tank had exploded. Maddie suspected that the explosion had been caused by one of her friends losing control of their powers – maybe Alison or Lucas or even Jean. This meant there would be lots of questions and possibly a long-winded lecture from Professor Xavier about the reasons why they were forbidden to use their powers outside the Institute. Maddie really didn't feel like having to sit through that, especially when she had nothing to do with what happened. All she wanted to do was be a normal teenage girl and hang out with her boyfriend.

Of course, if one person at the Institute screwed up, then everyone got in trouble. Sometimes Maddie wished she hadn't agreed to move to Bayville. She wished she had chosen to stay back home in Connecticut. Besides, Maddie practically had her mutant powers under control. It was Jean who had problems, not her. So why she had agreed to follow her troubled twin to Bayville was beyond her. It wasn't that she didn't love her sister, but damn it, she could really be frustrating at times.

"Maddie?"

"Yeah?" She looked up at Duncan.

The two teens were heading for Duncan's car. "Everything okay?"

Maddie sighed. "It's just … I don't really wanna go back to the Institute right now."

"Then come back with me," Duncan said. "Like I said before, just call them and tell them where you're at."

"It's not that simple," said Maddie. "Something goes wrong and they tighten the leash. If I don't go back I'll never hear the end of it, and everyone else will hate me because if one person screws up, we all pay for it."

Duncan let out a low whistle. "Damn, Maddie. Why'd you go to that place? Those people sound worse than my parents."

"Your parents are awesome," Maddie said. "Seriously, they let you do whatever you want."

"Yeah, so long as I keep my grades up. Which means I have to actually care about school."

Maddie laughed. "I wish I lived at your house."

"Me too," smirked Duncan. "It's too bad you can't come back with me. My parents are gone for the night."

Maddie let out another sigh. "I'm sorry, babe. But you can drive me home, if you want."

"Sure, no problem," Duncan said. "We just have to wait for Annie. I'm supposed to be dropping her off at home too."

As soon as he mentioned her name, Annie Ghazikhanian came racing toward them. She was a girl of average height, with long dark hair and blue eyes. Annie was Maddie's best friend. They'd been close ever since Maddie and Jean had moved to Bayville a little over three years ago.

"Maddie!" Annie cried, throwing her arms around her best friend. "Oh my god, I couldn't find you anywhere! Are you okay?"

Maddie nodded. "I'm fine, Annie. A little shaken up, but I'm fine."

"Yeah, what happened there?" Annie asked.

"Don't know," Maddie replied, shaking her head. "I just want to get out of here."

"Yeah, me too," said Annie. "You going back to Duncan's?"

"No. I can't. I have to go back to the Institute."

"I'm going to drop her off, if that's okay," Duncan said.

"Yeah, that's fine," said Annie, climbing into the back seat of Duncan's car. "I could use the drive anyway."

[hr]

Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters – Bayville, New York

A red Convertible pulled up to the heavy, wrought-iron security gates that protected the opulent Xavier mansion. Within the car were four teenagers, three of them clearly very nervous.

"Thanks for picking us up, Scott," Jean said as she climbed out the passenger side. She paused just before the cobblestone path leading up to the steps. "I'm almost afraid to go inside."

Scott Summers gave Jean a sympathetic look as he locked his car. He was fairly tall, well-built, with short, dark brown hair and brown eyes obscured by a pair of red sunglasses. "Relax, Jean. It won't be that bad. Have you ever known the Professor to raise his voice or whip any of his students?"

Jean sighed. "Good point. I guess it's more shame than anything else. I promised him I'd be responsible and not use my powers outside the Institute. Then I go and screw up."

"Well, we all make mistakes," Scott said, coming up beside Jean. "It's called being human."

Jean couldn't help but smile at Scott's words. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," she said, and linked her arm through Scott's. "Walk me inside?"

"Why certainly." Scott said smiling, and the two walked off toward the mansion.

Not far behind Jean and Scott, Alison leaned heavily against Lucas, stumbling a bit as she made her way up the driveway. That sudden power surge had taken a lot out of her. She was very grateful for Lucas, who didn't seem to mind helping her out.

"You okay, Ali?" he asked her.

Alison nodded. "Yeah, just really tired. I'm … I'm really sorry about—"

"It's okay," Lucas said, wrapping an arm around her waist. "The game was pretty much over anyway, and it wasn't your fault. Stacey likes to start shit just for attention."

"Oh my god, she saw—"

"No she didn't."

"How do you know?"

"I don't. But wouldn't she have said something?"

"Maybe." Alison let out a tired sigh, leaning fully into Lucas, who by this time was pretty much carrying her. She looked up into those intense, dark eyes of his, and couldn't help but smile.

'Damn, he's not half bad.' Was the last thought that crossed her mind before she passed out in his arms.

[hr]

"Thanks Duncan," Maddie said, leaning over and giving her boyfriend a kiss before hopping out of his car. "I really appreciate this."

"Hey, you gonna be free tomorrow?" Duncan asked.

"Um, probably not. We have a new student coming tomorrow night, and the Professor will want all of us there to meet him. But if I can get away—"

"Hey, don't worry about it, babe." Duncan smiled at his girlfriend. "I understand. Just give me a call."

Maddie smiled. "Thanks for being so understanding," she said. "Annie, I'll call you later, okay?" She waved to her friend and her boyfriend as she disappeared through the gates.

Once she had gone, Duncan turned the car around and headed away from the Institute.

"So when are you gonna tell her?"

"Now's not the right time." Duncan replied, not even bothering to turn and look at Annie.

"When is it gonna be the right time?"

"I'll tell her. Jesus Annie, get off my back."

"You can't have both of us, Duncan. It's either me or her."

"Annie, shut up." Duncan warned her. "I said I'll tell her. Keep nagging me and you'll be the one getting dropped."

Annie fell silent. As tempted as she was to say something else, she knew better. Duncan wasn't kidding when he said he'd drop her. He'd done it before to previous girlfriends, and he would most certainly do it to her.

But it was really getting frustrating. She wanted to take her relationship with Duncan further, but since Maddie was still in the picture she had to keep pretending nothing was going on between them, and she couldn't stand it.

Exhaling wearily, Annie leaned against the back of the seat. God, being with Duncan could be really tiring sometimes. But they'd been on and off for a couple of years now, and Annie couldn't seem to let him go. She still loved him despite the fact he often dated other girls. Maddie Grey was just another stupid girl who thought Duncan would love her forever, when in reality she was just a plaything he would eventually throw away once she had outlived her usefulness.

Annie had always been there for him. She had supported him through everything, and had willingly allowed him to use her to live out some of his twisted fantasies. She was his girl, and always would be his girl, and nothing would change that. Now if only he saw that and put an end to his playboy ways so they could finally be together.

[hr]

Downtown Bayville

It was all too much for Angel Salvadore. The young girl was currently perched on the rooftop of some building, looking over the downtown area of Bayville. She no longer had her trench coat, so she felt very vulnerable. But when that propane tank had exploded, all she could think about was getting the hell out of there. So she shrugged off her coat and put those wings of hers to good use, taking off into the sky and away from all the chaos.

Angel sighed, looking up toward the sky. She had to think about her next move now. She certainly couldn't stay up here forever. Someone was bound to see her eventually and would probably call the police thinking she was going to commit suicide or break into the building. But where could she go where no one would notice her?

A crow landed on the roof next to her, drawing Angel's gaze away from the clouds. 'Why couldn't I have been born a bird?' she thought bitterly.

She stared at the crow for a minute. It didn't move. It didn't even make its annoyingly loud cawing sound. It just stared back at her. Was this normal behaviour for a crow?

Angel shook her head. What did she know about crows and their behaviour? She was just a juvenile delinquent and a freak of nature. But there was something odd about that bird, and she couldn't seem to put her finger on it.

She looked at the crow again, and saw something that was definitely not normal bird behaviour. Its eyes flashed yellow. Angel blinked, making sure she had actually seen it. To her shock, it happened again.

"What's up with this bird?" she asked herself.

As soon as those words had left her mouth, something strange happened. The crow's form melted away, and in its place was a tall, athletic female with red hair, blue skin and amber eyes clad in a somewhat revealing black leather outfit. Angel's eyes nearly bugged out of her head at the sight of the woman before her. "What…" she started to say, but couldn't seem to get the words out.

"What's the matter, dear? Haven't you ever seen a mutant before?"

"A mutant?"

"Yes, Angel, a mutant. That's what we are."

"We?"

"Unless I'm hallucinating, you have a pair of wings on your back."

"Oh, I know that," said Angel. "I just didn't think there was a word to describe me."

"Us," the woman corrected her. "You're not alone, Angel. There are more of us than you think."

"How do you know my name anyway?" Angel asked.

"I've had my eye on you for a while," the woman said. "In fact, that's why I'm here. I want to, pardon the cliche, and make you an offer you can't refuse."

"What makes you think I can't refuse it?"

"Because you're desperate, Angel," the woman replied. "You're a homeless delinquent with no money, no one to look after you, and you're forced to steal just to survive."

"I don't got no choice," Angel said. "I gotta eat too."

"Well, seeing as you left your day's earnings back at Bayville High, it looks like you won't be getting supper tonight."

Angel let out an irritated sigh. Damn. She'd forgotten all about that. "Um, you wouldn't happen to have any money, would you?" She didn't want to ask this strange woman for anything, but she hadn't eaten in a couple days and her stomach was starting to hurt.

The woman just smiled. "I can do better than that," she said. "How about a place to live rent free?"

[hr]

Next up, Strategy X Part II. Apologies for any typographical errors.


End file.
